Netflix is making a smart move to improve its gaming environment. The big streaming company has agreed to buy Ready Player Me, a startup that makes avatar technology.
This purchase is all about a big part of the gaming experience: digital identity. Netflix wants to give its subscribers a permanent avatar that can move between games. This will make the platform more connected and personal for players.
Netflix integrates cross-game avatar technology
Timmu Tõke, the CEO of Ready Player Me, an Estonian startup, announced the deal to buy it. He said that the company’s “cross-game avatar tech” will let players use the same digital character in more than one game.
This is a clear step in Netflix’s changing strategy for its games division, which is moving increasingly toward multiplayer experiences that are social and flexible.
TechCrunch says that Netflix will hire the 20 or so people who work for Ready Player Me. But after the change, only CEO Timmu Tõke from the founding team will stay on. The companies haven’t said when Netflix games will get avatar technology or which games will be first.
The main technology that powers Ready Player Me is simple for game developers to use. Its system uses AI to change a user’s avatar so that it looks like the art style of the game. This means that developers don’t have to do any extra work to redesign a character so that it fits into different worlds.
Netflix has tried many different ways to play games in the past few years, but now it’s focusing on a few. The company is no longer making big AAA games. As of late, the company has been making moves toward games that are easier to play and more social.
It can now stream party games, for instance, and is developing a new soccer simulator in collaboration with FIFA. Now is the time when having customizable avatars across multiple games would be highly beneficial.
Netflix’s commitment to creating a unique and interconnected game library is evident through this acquisition. The company is spending money on a social layer that could make its games feel more personal and connected by bringing Ready Player Me’s technology in-house. This purchase will make its platform stand out in a crowded market.
